Device for supporting packaged articles and the like



A. EILERSGAARD 2,395,176

DEVICE FOR SUPPORTING PACKAGED ARTICLES AND THE LIKE Feb. 19, 1946.

Filed Nov. 5, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY Feb. 19, 1946. .A.EILERSGAARD DEVICE FOR SUPPORTING PACKAGED ARTICLES AND THE LIKE File dNov.'5, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 19, 1946 DEVICE FOR-SUPPORTING PACKAGED ARTICLES AND THE LIKE Asger Efl'ersgaard, LosAngeles,v Calizfl, assignorto The; Patent and. Licensing: Corporation,New

Yorlg. N. Y.,. a.

corporation of Massachusetts Application. November 5, 1942', Serial. No.464,600 7 Claims; (01. 206-47) invention. relates generally to.receptacles or containers and is concerned with. the. provision ot asupporting device adaptedv especially for conping and. retainingpackaged articles and. the like. within. a hollow cylindrical roll of.sheet matori-a1.

The device of my inventionis-adapted particularly for use shipment ofasphalticrooling material furnished in long relatively narrow sheets.This materialis usually wound for shipment in the form of rolls, therolls. having an. axial opening. which may b of adtameter ranging. fromapproximately 3- to 6 .2

It has been common: practice for years to enclose withinaxialopeni-z-rg. the trimmings required: for eachroll oi material, thesetrimmings usual-1y comprising a. container, uch as a can, of lap cementfor adhesivelyjoining overlapping roofing sheets together, and. a cartonor package of nails suitable for securing the laid sheets to theunderlying roof support. Inorder to retain the trimmings within thefollow opening of the roll until removal thereof i required on theparticular job for which the: rolledmaterial is intended, ithas beencustomary toseal the: open ends of the roll by means of suitable headsor caps, usually muslin cloth reinforced with cardboard and Basted tothe ends of .the rolls This method of loosely confining the packagedarticle within the: hollow rolls not only consumes a substantial amountof material and labor, but not infrequently the handling of the rollresults in damage or displacement of the heads or caps, with consequentloss of or damage to the packages. This occurs not only in handling ofthe rolls in transit, but also in storage, particularly during the timethe adhesive securing the caps or heads to the rolls is. still wet sothat its bond is relatively weak.

Various proposals have been made heretofore whereby the packages orcartons enclosed within the rolled material may be fixedly retainedtherein, thus rendering the application of end closure meansunnecessary. However, these proposals: have not proven satisfactoryorpractical for one reason or another.

It is the principal object of the present inventi'ofi, therefore. toprovide a novel and improved type of device for confining and supportingpackaged articles within a hollow roll, so as to dispens with thenecessity of employing end closure or sealing means.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a device of the characterindicated, which may be readily inserted within. the hollow roll and beretained. therein against disloclgcment during handling of the roll.yet. capable of permitting convenient. withdrawal of the. packagedarticles held. thereby withinthe roll, without injuring the rolledmaterial; to provide a device of this, character designed so as. tobecome securely lodged within the. hollow roll. by a Wedging orfrictional action of parts. of the device on the surface of the core of.the. roll, and, to provide a device designed and functioning. asdescribed, which will be elficient in operation and. less costly thanthe pres.- ently usedrollheads or caps.-

Various other teatures. and advantages. of the invention will be moreclearly apparent from. the

detailed description which is to follow and from the. accompanying.drawings, in. which:

Fig- 1. shows. a preformed blank of material for a device embodying theinvention;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view partly in section showing, the blank ofFig. I folded to its set-up form,. in. which it. may be inserted in. theroll;

Fig.3 is. an end view of Fig. 2

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the manner in which the device isadapted to. become wedged within the. hollow opening of a cylindricalroll. parts. thereof being broken away to. clarify the showing;

Fig. 5 is a. sectional view showing the manner in. which one Or morepackaged articles may be confined and retained within the axial openingof a. cylindrical roll by means of the device of Figs. 1 to l;

Fig. 6 is a sectional View taken along lines 6-5 of Fi 5;

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 1,, showing another embodiment of theinvention;

Fig. 8 is a side view, in elevation, showing the blank of Fig. 7 foldedto operative position;

Fig. 9 is an end view of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged perspective view, showing. more clearly thedetails of construction of one end of the device shown in Fig. 8;

Fig. 11 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 5, showing the manner inwhich the packaged article are held within a hollow roll of material bythe device of Figs. 7 to 10; and

Fig. 12 is a sectional view taken along lines l2-l2 of Fig. 11.

Referring to Fig. 1, the blank 14 comprises a unitary sheet of foldablematerial, such as corrugated boxboard or the like, from which thebox-like receptacle or container 15 is formed. After cutting awayportions along the peripheral edges, as shown, the blank is creasedalong two parallel longitudinal lines and along four transverse linesthat cross or meet the longitudinal lines substantially at right angles,thereby dividing it into pairs of flaps and extensions foldable relativeto a central portion.

The central rectangular portion thus defined constitutes the bottom itof the receptacle or container I5. The panels contiguous with the longeredges of the bottom portion I5 constitute side walls or flap-s l1 hingedalong the substantially parallel fold lines 18. The panels contiguouswith the narrow edges of the bottom portion form the main end flaps IS,which are adapt-- ed to bend upwardly toward each other when foldedalong the creases 20. These main end flaps l9 are creased alongsubstantially parallel lines 2| and 22 to form, respectively, pairs ofside extensions or flaps 23 and 24 adapted to fold upwardly toward eachother. The end flaps I? are also creased along transverse line 25 and 26to form, respectively, upwardly folding end extension 21, 28. Each ofthe end extension 21, 28 has a pair of substantially triangular wings 29and 33 adapted to fold inwardly toward each other along substantiallyparallel creased lines 35 and 32.

In setting up the receptacle or container l5 from the thus describedblank I4, the opposite pairs of end wings 29 and 30 may be foldedinwardly toward each other and then the end extensions 21 and 28 may bebent upwardly along the fold lines 25, 26 until the end wings 29 and 30respectively meet inwardly folded pairs of end flaps 23 and 24, as shownin Figs. 2 and 4. The main end flaps l9 are thus provided with upwardlyextending walls on three sides as defined by the fold lines 2|, 25 and22, 26. In this formation, the main end flaps l9 are folded upwardlyalong the lines 28 until the edges 33, 34 come to rest along the bottomportion Hi. The main end flaps H! are retained in this box-likeformation by folding the main side flaps l1 upwardly along the foldlines l8 to thus form a practically completely enclosed container, asshown in Figs. 2 and 3.

The height and width of the box-like receptacle or container l5 areproportioned accordin to the inner diameter of the central opening ofthe roll of material with which it is to be associated, so as to affordat least the minimum amount of clearance required to freely insert thereceptacle within the hollow opening of the roll. The length of thecontainer is somewhat in excess of the overall length of the packages tobe held thereby in the central opening of the roll, so that thecontained packages will not hamper or restrain the inward pivotalmovement required of the main end flaps H! in closing the containersufficiently to permit it to be readily inserted within the centralopening in the roll.

In the use of the device, one of the flaps l9 and its extensions 23, 21,29 may be folded to the set-up position and this closed end of thecontainer then inserted into the axial opening 35 of the rolled material35, whereupon a can of cement 31 and a package of nails 38 may then beplaced within the container l5, after which the other end of thecontainer is similarly folded to close that end. and the insertion ofthe container into the opening may then be completed. It is also withinthe contemplation of the invention to load the formed container with thepackaged articles and then to insert the loaded container within theaxial opening of the roll. To this end, suitably shaped jigs may beemployed for bending the container blank along the fold lines previouslydescribed, and also for retaining the loaded container in closedformation until it is inserted within the roll opening. After the loadedcontainer has been inserted within the opening 35 of the roll 36, thefolded flaps, extensions and wings of the container will tend to springoutwardly and unfold along the hinges of their respective fold-lines, asbest illustrated in Fig. 4. This tendency to unfold is largelyattributable to the normal resiliency of the corrugated boxboard fromwhich the container is formed. The effect of this unfolding action is tocause opposite edges and corners of the container to frictionallycontact the wall of the opening 35. Whenever the roll 36 is set on oneend, or even slightly inclined from a horizontal plane, as willgenerally happen under normal handling of the roll, the container l5will normally tend to slide or shift somewhat toward the lower end ofthe roll. However, the friction or drag set up between the contactingportions of the container and the wall of the opening 35, will cause theupper end flaps I9 to pivot outwardly along the hinge of the fold-line20, and the end extension 28 to pivot outwardly along the hinge 26. Theoutward pivotal movement thus initiated in the flap l9, in effect,increases the transverse dimension (perpendicular to the base) of thereceptacle, thereby causing the corners of the flap to engage and wedgeagainst the wall of the opening 35, as indicated in Fig. 6. Thus, theentire upper end of the container is effectively wedged in place and thecontainer immediately becomes immobilized. As shown in Fig. 5, wedgingaction of a similar type also takes place at the lower end of thecontainer since the lower end flap I9 is caused to pivot outwardlyrelative to the container under the weight of the packages 31 and 38bearing against the flap l9.

It will be readily appreciated that bumping or jarring of the rollduring handling, especially when setting the roll on one end, onlyserves more securely to wedge the container within the opening in theroll, since the added momentum of the bumping or jarring increases thefriction or drag at the top end of the container. Such added momentummay also be transmitted through the contained packages 31 and 38 to thelower end of the container, with the result that a tighter wedgingaction takes place. It is, therefore, manifest that the container isdesigned to support packaged articles within the hollow roll andeffectively to resist dislodgement when the roll is bumped or jarred,stood on either end.

' or reversed, or otherwise roughly handled.

The material from which the receptacle or container I5 is formed hassufficient body strength and rigidity to withstand the type of stressand strain to which it will be subjected during the handling of a rollof material.

When it is desired to utilize the trimmings confined within the roll,the wedged container may be readily released and removed by the use ofsome common expedient, such as a pole or stick to force the containerout through the central opening in the roll.

Referring now to Fig. '7, a narrow, elongated form of blank 44 istherein illustrated, comprising a fiat sheet of solid fiberboard, havingcutouts and longitudinal and transverse score lines to formappropriately sized central, side and end portions of a trough-shapedreceptacle 45. This modified type of receptacle for supporting packagedarticles, such as cans of cement and cartons attained by bending the tooverlap the protruding attains or bags of nails, is adapted to carry outthe objects of the present invention when used with rolled materialhaving small axial openings, as compared to the larger size openings forwhich the receptacle shown in Figs. 1 to 6 is best suited.

In setting up the trough-shaped receptacle 45, as shown in Figs. 8 to10, the bottom is formed by the rectangular shaped central portion 46 ofthe blank 44, bounded by the narrow side mem bers 41 and end members 49.The side members 4'! are folded upwardly toward each other alongsubstantially parallel longitudinal score lines 48 and the end members49 are adapted to fold upwardly toward each other along the transversescore lines 50.

A spaced double wall construction of, the end portions of the container,as shown in Fig. 8, is opposite pairs of side flaps 53 and 54 upwardlytoward each other along their respective score lines and 52, until theyare substantially at right angles with respect to the main end members49. Then the octagonally shaped end extensions 55 are folded inwardlyalong score lines 56 and the integral hinge portions 51 are likewisefolded inwardly along lines- 58 until the end extensions come to restsubstantially against the edges of the side flaps 53 and 54. Theopposite pairs of ears Gil, 6| extending from the hinge portions 51 arebent upwardly edges of the end extensions 55. In this position, thepairs of cars 60, 6| project laterally of and slightly toward the bottom46 of the receptacle 45, thus serving as wedging aids, as will be morefully explained hereinafter.

The cans or packages of cement 62 and nails 63 may be placed within thetrough-like receptacle 45 either before the receptacle is inserted intothe opening 65 of a roll of materialBB by the use of suitably designedjigs, as previously explained in connection with the setting up andloading of container l5, or these packages may be thus positioned withinthe receptacle after one end thereof has been inserted part way into theopening of the roll.

When the roll 66 is placed on end, as shown in Fig. 11, or handled insuch manner as to cause a sliding or shifting movement of the receptacle45, relative to the wall of the opening 65, the upper pivotallyconnected end flap 49 will function in a manner similar to that morefully detailed above in connection with Figs. 1 to 6, thus serving towedge the receptacle 45 within the opening 65. Additional wedging actionis afforded by the laterally extending ears 60, GI, and the projectingedges of the octagonal walls 55, as shown in Fig, 12. The lower end flap49 similarly functions as a second wedging member when the weight of thepackaged articles 62, 63 bearing against the inner wall 55 causes theflap to pivot outwardly and more securely engage the wall of theopening. The same wedging engagement of the receptacle within the roll,whereby to prevent its dislodgement when the roll is handled, may belikewise obtained by reversing the position of the roll, as will bereadily appreciated.

The spaced double-wall construction for the ends of the receptacle shownin Figs. 7 to 12 provides adequate reinforcement against any strikingforce of th packaged articles that is likely to occur under the addedmomentum of severe bumping or jarring of the roll. Furthermore, thepivotable end walls may be moved outwardly to a limited extent only, asdetermined by the '3 slight amount of clearance available between thereceptacle and the wall of the opening, thus pre- Venting the receptaclefrom opening up to such an extent as to permit the confined articles tofreely slide out or to be forced out by rough handling and bumping ofthe roll.

It is thus seen that the holding devices of my invention function in amanner effective to confine packaged articles within hollow rolls ofconvolute material and prevent the dislodgement of the articles duringthe handling of the roll. The objective is accomplished with greaterefficiency and at lower cost than can be obtained when caps or heads areutilized for sealing the open ends of the roll. The careful handlingusually required for rolls in which the cement and nails are looselyconfined by sealing the ends is no longer necessary, when the presentinvention is utilized. Moreover, with the application of the presentinvention, rough handling of the rolls only serves to more securelylodge the packaged articles within the rolls.

I claim: I

1. In combination with a hollow roll, a device for supporting packagedarticles within saiclhollow roll, comprising a unitary piece of foldablematerial forming a container having a bottom member, side and endmembers hinged thereto, the largest diameter across the end members being greater than the diameter of the interior of the roll, said endmembers being adapted, when inclined with respect to the bottom member,securely to wedge within said interior and to hold said container withinsaid hollow roll when said roll is placed on end.

2. In combination with rolled sheet material, a device for confining andsupportin packaged articles Within the axial opening of said rolledsheet material, comprising a single piece of material out and bent toform a container for insertion, with articles contained therein, withinsaid axial opening, said container having a bottom member, and a pair ofend members hi ged thereto, said end members terminating in pivotallyconnected portions inclined toward said bottom member, the largestdimension across the end members being greater than the diameter of theaxial opening, one of said end members adapted to wedgingly engage thewall of said axial opening responsive to a slight shiftin or slidingmovement of the container, the other of said end members adapted towedgingly engage the wall of said axial opening when actuated by theweight of the articles within said container upon said other end memher.

3. In combination with rolled sheet material, a device for confining andsupporting packaged articles within the axial opening of said rolledsheet material, comprising container or receptacle formed from a singlesheet of rigid foldable material, said container or receptacle having abottom member and inclined ends pivotally connected to said bottommember, the largest dimension across the ends being greater than thediameter of the axial opening, said ends, when inclined to said bottom.member, being readily insertable within said axial opening, saidinclined ends serving as wedges for immobilizing said containerimmediately, responsive to a slight shifting or sliding movement of thecontainer when said roll of materialis placed on either of its ends.

4. In combination with a hollow roll, a device for supporting packagedarticles within said hollow roll, comprising a unitary piece of foldablematerial forming a container having a bottom member and an end memberhinged thereto, the largest dimension across the end member beinggreater than the diameter of the interior of the roll, said end memberbeing adapted, when inclined with respect to the bottom member, securelyto wedge within said interior and to hold said container within saidhollow roll when the latter is placed on end.

5. In combination with rolled sheet material, a device for confining andsupporting packaged articles within the axial opening of said rolledsheet material, comprising a single piece of material cut and bent toform a container for insertion, with articles contained therein, withinthe axial opening, said container having a bottom mem ber, and a pair ofend members hinged thereto, thelargest dimension across the end membersbeing greater than the diameter of the axial opening, said end membersbeing capable of being inclined with respect to said bottom member, and,when so inclined, one of said end members being adapted wedgingly toengage the wall of said axial opening responsive to a slight shifting orsliding movement of the container and the other opposite end memberbeing adapted wedgingly to engage the wall of said axial opening whenactuated by the weight of the articles within the container upon saidother end member.

6. In a means of the class described, the com- I able material, saidholder blnation with a member having a longitudinal tubular opening, ofa holder formed of rigid foldable material, said holder comprisin a sidemember and end flap means at its opposite ends, said end flap meansbeing generally inclined inwardly with respect to the side member andsubstantially in converging relation with respect to each other both ofsaid end flap means extending substantially transversely of thelongitudinal extent of the opening and expansible laterally with respectthereto, both of said end flap means being adapted, when expanded,wedgingly to engage the wall of the opening when either the side memberor end flap means are moved longitudinally with respect to the walls ofthe opening.

7. In a means of the class described, the com- !bination with a memberhaving a longitudinal tubular opening, of a holder formed of rigidfoldcomprising a side member and an integral end flap means at one endthereof, that portion of the end flap means which is integral with theside member being normally inclined inwardly with respect to said sidemember, said end flap means extending substantially transversely of thelongitudinal extent of the opening and being expanded laterally intowedging engagement with the walls forming said tubular opening.

ASGER EILERSGAARD.

